Richmond The Screenplay
by Baroness Emma
Summary: Exactly what it says. "Richmond" and a part of "Farewell" as I think they ought to have been on screen. Very much a Work In Progress as I hope to remake the whole thing one day.


**A/N** One day I hope to expand this into a total remake of the movie, but for now I just have the two scenes – "Richmond" and part of "Farewell" as I think they ought to have been on screen. My parenthetical "shot descriptions" are VERY amateur attempts to try and make it seem like an actual movie remake. I am attempting to make the camera a character, so please forgive me if the terms are not professional.

This is also a bit of a treat for those of you who are waiting so very patiently for me to finish the next chapter of "Legend". (It's coming! I promise!) Please enjoy!  


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(SCENE - RICHMOND)

Brilliant countryside scenery lighted by moonlight. (Panoramic shot)

Cut to;

(Coach-and-four turning into long gravel drive. (follow shot) Sound of coach stopping, horses rearing, neighing, gravel scattering. Team of servants appear to take care of horses and coach. SIR PERCY leaps nimbly out of the coach, gives muted orders to the servants. (shot stays on MARGUERITE) She prepares to alight. SIR PERCY hands MARGUERITE down from the coach very gallantly. (MARGUERITE close up) She looks at her home, disconsolately, then walks across the gravel and lawn to the garden and terrace. (follow shot)

Cut to;

(Beautiful garden lit by cool moonlight. River in the distance, trees in fall color making the backdrop. She walks through the garden making her way to the terrace. (sighs audibly, smelling the flowers and trying to release inner tensions at the same time) MARGUERITE reaches one end of the terrace, climbs the steps (sound of shoes on stone).

Cut to;

(View of the house. Dark brick lighted by moonlight. Two rooms are lighted. One in the left wing and one in the right wing. (panning shot) They are very far apart. MARGUERITE stops, turns, notices them, looks between them, sighs, hangs her head, then looks up as - )

Cut to;

(sound of boots on gravel then grass) (SIR PERCY walking around the garden to the terrace.) (watching shot) He reaches the side of the terrace opposite from MARGUERITE and looks out briefly at the river. Hands are deep in his pockets. He does not slouch. He is very tall. A long shadow thrown by the moon makes him look even taller. (still shot) He thinks he is alone. He turns to walk into the house, and places one foot on the first stone step, hands still in his pockets.)

Cut to;

MARGUERITE (eagerly) "Sir Percy!"

SIR PERCY (starts, becomes very gallant, does not remove foot from step or hands from pockets) "At your service, Madame!" (bows slightly - both he and his words are stiff and formal)

MARGUERITE (tentatively) "The air is deliciously cool." (she takes a step toward him, then walks toward him. Stops at the head of the stairs he wants to climb. It is a few feet away from being able to touch him. She appears taller than he.) "The moonlight is peaceful and poetic, and the garden inviting." (pauses, slightly uncertain) "Will you not stay here a while with me?"

SIR PERCY (formally) "I fear, Madame, that the hour is late."

MARGUERITE (here-we-go-again, hurt and ironic) "It is not so very late. . . or is my company so distasteful to you, that you are in a hurry to rid yourself of it?"

SIR PERCY (still formal) "Nay, Madame," (becomes calm and very cold) "I believe 'tis on the other foot the shoe happens to be, and I am sure you shall enjoy the garden more without me in it." (leans as if to go)

MARGUERITE (stopping him) "Wait! Sir Percy, you mistake me" (hurried and apologetic) "I know we are strangers now, but - God knows that is never what I wanted - nor was it my fault, if you will remember. (takes one step down to be closer to him. She still looks taller than he is.)

SIR PERCY (with protest) "Your pardon, Madame." (indifferently lazy) "I fear me - alas - my memory was always very short."

(They exchange a look. Him - a nonchalant gaze with lazy eyes. Her - a swift pleading glance. She does not seem to want to look at him in the eyes, but she does come still closer to him. Now they are two feet away from each other. Their heads are on a level - him on the lower step and her on the upper. They are the same height.)

MARGUERITE (sad) "Was it, Sir Percy? (sad and dreamy) I wonder then, for it was over three years ago when you saw me - oh so briefly! - for the first time, and. . . you left soon afterward (sharply draws breath) . . . but then, two years later, you came back, and. . . you had not forgotten me." (at last she looks fully at him)

Cut to;

(SIR PERCY removes hands from pockets, letting the left hang free beside him, but putting the right on the stone railing. It is an affected gesture, and not for support.)

SIR PERCY (icy cold) "You desired my presence, Madame." (pauses, slightly ironic) "I assume it was not with the aim of torturing me with memories."

MARGUERITE (hard) "But, Faith! I do not think the present is a much better prospect. Do you think it is?" (looks sadly and longingly at him) "Will you not remember with me?" (invitingly holds out her hand)

(SIR PERCY reluctantly and quickly kisses the tips of her outstretched fingers. A polite ceremony. It means nothing.)

SIR PERCY (as he does so) "Begad Madame, forgive me, but I think not."

(Thwarted, she withdraws her hand. Coolly, he takes the remaining steps up to the terrace, brushes past her, and strides on with the obvious intention of going inside. Shot stays on MARGUERITE)

MARGUERITE (voice softening) "Sir Percy?"

SIR PERCY (pauses, turns) (very polite) "Your servant, Madame."

MARGUERITE (vehement) "Is it possible that love can die?" (coming towards him, confused and passionate) "I once thought that the love which you felt for me was immortal. (reaching to him) Is it not so, Percy? Can you not come back to me?"

(Now he is taller than she. They face each other from about three feet apart)

SIR PERCY (colder than before) "I pray you, Madame, what need have I to do so?"

MARGUERITE (drops arms, nearly hysterical) "I don't understand! Oh! _You_ don't understand!"

SIR PERCY (bitter) "Yet 'tis all a simple matter, your ladyship." (visibly suppresses agitation, eyes and jaw harden, bites words out) "My poor wits do not comprehend this new mood of yours, because I have no wish to play this devilish little game of ours yet again - a game that, I remind you, has gone uniformly your way for nearly a year." (rigid posture thaws into almost harsh accusation) "Why do you wish to see me a love-sick swain again? Do you want me to kneel devotedly at your feet, so that you might once more have the pleasure of kicking me aside, like an annoying puppy?"

MARGUERITE (intensely quiet) "Percy! I entreat! Can we not forget the past?"

SIR PERCY (lightly sardonic) "Pardon me, Madame, but I understood your wish was to remember it."

MARGUERITE (becoming desperate) "No! Not _that_ past, Percy!" (softening) "I wanted to remember a time when you still loved me! Oh!" (confessing) "I own I was vain and frivolous, and all that you were. . . all that you had. . . allured me." (pleading) "I married you, hoping that because you loved me so deeply, I could not help but to love you in return. . . but. . . now. . ."

(The sun rises slowly. As they spoke, they moved, still three feet apart, so that they are beside the stone railing, in a corner of the terrace, near the garden. A faint golden light suffuses the scene. Gems in MARGUERITE's hair sparkle. The scarlet pimpernel. SIR PERCY's eyes blink very slowly, his hands clench.)

SIR PERCY (very-well-then, with difficulty) "Twenty-four hours after our marriage, Madame, the Marquis de St. Cyr and all his family died on the guillotine, and the popular rumour reached me that it was the wife of Sir Percy Blakeney who helped to send them there."

MARGUERITE (shocked he is bringing it up) "But, I myself told you the truth of that terrible tale."

SIR PERCY (relentless) "Not `till after it had been told to me by strangers." (horrified) "In great detail." (looks hard at her)

MARGUERITE (very angry) "And you instantly believed them! Them and not me!" (very hurt) "I thought you loved me more than life, and without proofs or questions you believed that _I_, your wife, did this cruel and base thing with a willing heart! You thought I meant to deceive you, that I did not trust you, that I never even meant to tell you. . . but. . ." (grimaces, inhales sharply) ". . . had you listened, I could have told you how it was, that. . . that on the morning on which the St. Cyr's went to the guillotine, it was _I_ that was betrayed.

(SIR PERCY's eyes widen a bit, his chin comes up, his hands unclench a trifle. He is listening)

MARGUERITE (noticing his interest) "I had strained every nerve, used all my wits, pulled every string I knew, in order to save him and his family. But no one heeded me!" (very earnest) "I had been duped, tricked and thwarted by men I thought I could trust! They knew I loved my brother, and. . . (clenches jaw, holds back tears). . . forced me - me! - the very woman they themselves had called the cleverest woman in Europe to. . . to. . . affirm that hasty and foul accusation." (begins to cry silently) "My friends, my family, my own country - even my very wits were against me on that morning, and then, when you seemed to hate me too. . ." (pauses, then appealingly) "It was pride that closed my mouth, Sir Percy, but not unnatural pride."

(MARGUERITE is distraught, turns her head to try to compose herself. The light has been slowly coming up. SIR PERCY's expression softens to an even blankness, but with deep, intense eyes that are fully open. His breath quickens slightly. He seems to tower over her. A golden light falls on him now - the first time we see a shot of him in sunlight. His hands grip the railing to hold himself back from reaching out to her. MARGUERITE notices his change in mood, comes a little closer to him.)

MARGUERITE (tenderly) "Listen to the tale, Sir Percy." (truthfully) "Armand was everything to me! We had no parents - we raised each other. He was my little father, and I, his tiny mother, so deep was our love." (determinedly narrating) "Then one day - Are you listening, Sir Percy? - the Marquis de St. Cyr had my brother Armand thrashed - that brother whom I loved better than all the world, was whipped like a mongrel dog within an inch of his life!" (rising voice) "And what was his offense? That he, a plebeian, had dared to express that he loved St. Cyr's daughter." (bitter and vehement) "For that he was waylaid and thrashed. . . thrashed by servants. . ." (very bitter) "Oh, how we suffered! His pain was mine too, don't you see?" (reaches out her hands appealingly, then drops them as he does not respond) (matter-of-factly) "So, when I was given a chance to take my revenge on them, I did. But I only wanted them to be humiliated - spurned perhaps - dirtied by shame as we had been." (forces herself to look at him) "And St. Cyr _had_ plotted with Austria - a vile act against his own country! I chanced to know this and, in the heat of disgust and anger. . . I spoke of it." (with hurrying self-reproach) "Oh! I own that t'was foolish and childish! But. . . how could I guess the consequences?" (hangs head) "When I tried to take back what I had done, it was too late."

(MARGUERITE looks to SIR PERCY for a reaction. SIR PERCY, now outwardly impassive, regained a tenuous control of himself while MARGUERITE spoke. His hands hang loosely by his sides, his expression is oddly expectant. He lets the pause go on a moment. Tears begin to well in her eyes.)

SIR PERCY (evenly) "You see how it can be difficult, Madame, to go back over the past." (straightforward) "I have confessed to you that my memory is short, but I certainly remember that, at the time of the Marquis' death, I earnestly entreated you for this very explanation." (coolly accusatory) "If that same memory does not play me false, I also recall that you refused me _any_ explanation then, and demanded that I blindly surrender my trust to you, without the least hope of _you_ ever placing _any_ trust in me."

MARGUERITE (hysterical) "Oh, I was burnt raw trying to trust men I thought I knew! Just once, I wanted to have one instant of control over. . . over my own destiny! For but one moment, I wished to be mistress of the situation! (yearning, beginning to break down) Once only, and then I would have yielded everything to you, I promise!" (draws deep breath, trembling) "But, instead of waiting, you grew angry, and turned to hating me." (sighs, heartbroken) "I did not know what to do! The very day before you had told me that you drew your life's breath only for me, and for love of me."

SIR PERCY (relenting at last into hot temper) "And to test that love, you wanted me to forfeit my honour!" (his face is harsh, his expression distorted) "You demanded that I should accept your every action without murmur or question - like a dumb and submissive slave." (gestures expressively) "My heart was overflowing with love and passion, and so I asked for no further explanation." (makes a fist, jaw tightens, grindingly bitter) "But, I _waited_ for one. . . not doubting - only hoping." (shakingly) "Had you spoken but one word - one word! - I would have believed it." (very hurt) "Instead you chose to leave me - without a word beyond the bare admission of the actual horrible facts! You returned to your brother's house, and left me alone. . . for weeks. . ." (fierce) "After that I did not know whom to believe, since the shrine which contained my one goddess," (points at her) "lay shattered to earth at my feet!" (makes great effort to control himself)

MARGUERITE (full of sorrow) "Aye! the madness of my pride! I was a fool to leave, but I wished to cool your anger. . . not your love! (shrinks with shame then flares up into sorrowful anger) And you know - _you know_ I tried to come back to you! (stepping a little closer to him) But, instead of your old love for me, I found you impassive. . . hard . . . cold and distant. . ." (chokes with a sob) . . .and you have worn that mask with me ever since!" (looks up, pleading with hope, probing his eyes) "Until. . .until now." (comes within a foot of him)

(The sun has come up fully behind her. She is silhouetted with bright, fresh light. She is almost angelically pretty. SIR PERCY closes his eyes, draws himself up. He has revealed too much. He does not wish to yield to her.)

SIR PERCY (once again cold) "Nay, Madame, it is not a mask."

MARGUERITE (unconvinced) "I. . . " (catches breath) "I don't believe you."

SIR PERCY (icy) "I swore to you. . . once . . . that I was yours. For months now you have played with me. . . and my affections." (drawing himself up) "My life has served its purpose."

MARGUERITE (unconvinced of his indifference) "Sir Percy, heaven knows it has been difficult for me to. . . show you _any_ affection for all this past twelvemonth. (asking for attention) But. . . (pauses, desperate) You spoke of my mood, just now - it is no such thing, but call it that, if you want - and. . . Oh, Percy, I wished to speak to you. . . because. . . because I am in trouble. . . and have need. . . of your sympathy."

SIR PERCY (matter-of-fact) "It is yours to command, Madame."

MARGUERITE (desperate) "Faith! How cold you are! I can scarce believe that only a few months ago one tear in my eyes would set you well-nigh crazy. (haltingly) Now I come to you. . . with a half-broken heart. . . and. . . and. . ." (cannot finish)

SIR PERCY (sighs very quietly) (almost relenting) "I ask you, Madame," (voice shakes a little) "in what way can I help you?"

MARGUERITE (sighs, turns to face away from him, voice is very tired, but grasping her chance) "Armand is in deadly danger, Percy." (SIR PERCY's head comes up. He is suddenly, subtly alert - she does not see) "A rash and impetuous letter of his, written to Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, has fallen into the hands of a fanatic. (SIR PERCY leans in a little to listen - she does not see) "Armand is hopelessly compromised. . . to-morrow, perhaps he will be arrested. . . after that the guillotine. . . unless. . . (heartrending cry) It is horrible! So horrible! . ." (turns suddenly to face him) "and you do not understand. . . you _cannot_ understand. . . and I have no one to turn to. . . for help. . . or even for sympathy. . ." (breaks down completely, falls back to a stone bench, flings arms over stone railing, sobs bitterly)

(There is determination on SIR PERCY's face, his hands form fists in the empty air, his shoulders reset themselves. For a brief moment he is a different man. He turns, as an aside - )

SIR PERCY (not to MARGUERITE) (bitterly sarcastic) "And so, the murderous dog of the revolution is turning upon the very hands that fed it?"

(He looks then at MARGUERITE crying, and for the first time his face softens into tenderness.)

SIR PERCY (turning to her) (very gently) "Begad, Madame, will you dry your tears?. . ." (suddenly seems as if he is holding back tears of his own) "I never could bear to see a woman cry, and I. . ." (impulsively steps much closer to her, reaches tentative arms to her, restrains himself, almost kneels before her, restrains himself, desperately looks for what to do, gulps back emotion and forces himself to be resolute. His very height seems a burden, but he will not yield yet.) (sound of MARGUERITE crying)

SIR PERCY (looking down to her) (tremblingly gentle) "Will you not turn to me, Madame, and tell me in what way I may have the honour to serve you?"

(MARGUERITE makes violent efforts to control herself, pulls out a handkerchief, buries her face in it, then wipes her eyes with it, it ends up in her right hand. She realizes she must stand. She does so, aided by leaning her right hand on the railing, the handkerchief stays there, she does not notice. She does turn to him. Holds out a hand to him. A formal gesture. He kisses it. The same polite ceremony as before, but this time they both linger over it a second or two. It is the only way they can touch each other.)

MARGUERITE (as they do so) "Can you do anything for Armand?" (looking at their hands as they touch and part) (simply) "You have so much influence at court. . . so many friends. . ." (looks up at him)

SIR PERCY (self deprecatingly) "Nay, Madame, should you not ask for help from your French friend, M. Chauvelin? His influence extends, if I mistake not, even as far as the Republican Government of France."

MARGUERITE (mournful) "I cannot ask him, Percy. . ." (desperate sigh, hangs head) "Oh! I wish I dared to tell you. . . but. . . but. . . he has put a price on my brother's head. . . and I. . ." (looses courage)

SIR PERCY (quietly longing) "Madame, will you not . . . (pauses) Can you not. . . even now. . . trust me. . . ?"(pauses, expectant)

MARGUERITE (looking away from him) (vaguely fearful) "I. . . I. . . (looks back at him) "Percy! I. . . have told you. . . all I can. . ." (holds back sobs once more)

(He sighs, retreats back into his shell)

SIR PERCY (so be it) "Faith, Madame, since it distresses you, we will speak no more of it." (quietly encouraging) "As for Armand, I pray you, have no fear." (formally polite) "I pledge you my word that he shall be safe." (MARGUERITE's tension breaks a little. She looks at him thankfully.) "Now, have I your permission to go? The hour truly is late, and. . ."

MARGUERITE (drawing very close to him) (tenderly) "Will you at least. . . accept my thanks, Sir Percy?"

(MARGUERITE raises her face as though for a kiss. SIR PERCY raises his forearms, looks into her eyes, leans slightly toward her, almost pulls her to him, restrains himself, quickly and briefly touches his fingertips to her upper arms)

SIR PERCY (quietly) "It is too soon, Madame. . . I have done nothing as yet." (standing aside, bows, again gallant) "The hour is late, and you must be fatigued. Your maid will be waiting for you upstairs."

(MARGUERITE sighs, disappointed. Slowly she turns away from him and walks toward the house. The light is brighter now. In his standing aside, SIR PERCY has retreated into an angle of the terrace that is still in shadow. The rising sunlight touches only one tiny portion of his hair. MARGUERITE pauses halfway across the terrace and looks back at him. She is now in the sunlight. Everything about MARGUERITE is sparkling. Her hair, her ornaments, her dress, her tears. SIR PERCY has gained full control of himself for a moment and is outwardly completely cold. He does not respond to her look. MARGUERITE climbs the steps to the house. Once again she is taller than he. At the door she turns, briefly, and seeing him still cold and impassive, quickly runs, sobbing, into the house)

(END OF SCENE)

(SCENE SEVENTEEN - FAREWELL)

(SIR PERCY watching the house, now mostly bathed in pale sunlight. He is looking at the left hand lighted window.)

Cut to;

(View of house. Left hand lighted window winks out. MARGUERITE has gone to bed. Sound of birds chirping. Light wind picks up.)

Cut to;

(slow zoom in shot of SIR PERCY) (Caped coat stirs in the breeze. He is still in shadow, as is the other lighted window.) (SIR PERCY closeup.) (His impassive face melts into fierce sorrow. He leans back for support on the railing. Gasps as if in pain, bangs fist backwards against the stone railing, groans, whirls to face away from the house - away from her.(shot stays on SIR PERCY's back) Leans heavily on railing. Hangs head and gives in to a groan. (cut to front shot) Angrily swipes at invisible tears with left hand. He pauses, noticing something. Closeup of right hand - still on the railing - underneath it is MARGUERITE's handkerchief. He starts and pulls away from it as though frightened he has killed it. Very slowly, very tenderly, he reaches toward it and gently picks it up. He cradles it in both hands like a relic. Tentatively he brings it up to his face, almost shyly, he inhales the fragrance of it, presses his lips to it, sighs, and reverently puts it into his left sleeve. (Closeup of his left arm. Panning shot from sleeve to hand.) Left hand makes a determined fist. (Closeup of face.) Expression changes to the alert man of action we have briefly seen a few moments ago. Fist still determinedly clenched, he turns and goes into the house.) (Follow shot of him entering house, climbing interior stairs.)

Cut to;

(Inside shot of SIR PERCY's chambers. He enters, very businesslike. Purposefully, he removes his coat and throws it over the back of a chair. In a corner, FRANK, the valet, is sitting in another chair and has just been awakened by SIR PERCY's entrance. FRANK stands.)

FRANK (concerned) "Sir?"

SIR PERCY (all-business) "I'm fine Frank, but I haven't time. (orders) Lay out a riding suit, if you would. Then - I'm afraid you'll have to wake one of the grooms - but have him saddle Sultan for me, please. I wish to leave as soon as possible. (removes hat and jacket, very determined)

FRANK (as you wish) "Yes sir." (goes about his business)

(SIR PERCY continues to change his clothes, obviously preparing for a journey. We have not seen this personality on him before, and his tone of voice is also new. He is, for the first time, a man with a purpose. As he undoes a cuff link, the lace frill of his sleeve falls back and he looks at his wrist. There is a tiny corner of MARGUERITE's handkerchief showing. He looks fixedly at it for a moment, touches it lightly, makes a decision. Deliberately he crosses the room, sits down at a writing table, begins a letter.)

Cut to;

(Exterior shot of the house. The light has come up on it fully. None of the facade is in shadow any more, but the lighted window we now know is SIR PERCY's is still lighted.)

Cut to;

(Interior shot of MARGUERITE's chambers. She is curled up, asleep, on a window seat. She is wearing a long nightgown. Her hair is lose around her.) (sound of boots on wooden floor)

Cut to;

(White rectangle of a letter slides underneath MARGUERITE's chamber door) (sound of boots walking away) (The white of the letter contrasts sharply with the dark wood of the floor. MARGUERITE stirs, as though surprised she has fallen asleep, looks about her, sees the letter. She is curious and confused, goes over and picks it up. Opens it slowly. Reads aloud - )

MARGUERITE (softly, but clearly and audibly) "Most honorable Madame, an unforeseen circumstance forces me to leave for the North immediately, so I beg your ladyship's pardon if I do not avail myself of the honour of bidding you good-bye. My business may keep me employed for about a week, so I shall not have the privilege of being present at your ladyship's water-party on Wednesday. I remain your ladyship's most humble and most obedient servant, Percy Blakeney."

(MARGUERITE looks up, face confusedly blank, reads the letter through again, quickly and silently, brow furrows, she swiftly grabs a dressing gown and puts it on as she runs out of her room and down the stairs.

Whole movie continues here but when do I have time????


End file.
